Alberta Registered Nurses Welcome Launch of Family Care Clinics
EDMONTON, March 22, 2012 /CNW/ - The College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA) welcomes today's announcement regarding the opening of three pilot family care clinics in Edmonton, Calgary and Slave Lake.
"The family care clinic model is an important new initiative which will expand Albertans' access to primary health care services in their communities," says Dianne Dyer, CARNA president. "These new clinics will allow people to access the services they need under one roof, benefiting from the knowledge and expertise of their collaborative health team and being connected to resources in their community."
According to Dyer, the benefits of inter-professional care and the development of a team-based approach to care are well-known and documented. Preventing illness and promoting health are the best ways to reduce demand on the over-stretched public health-care system over the long term.
"Many of the issues facing our acute-care system are a result of lack of access to health services in communities," says Dyer. "The demographics in the health professions mirror those of the general population which means that we need to optimize the human resources that we have in the system. Registered nurses and nurse practitioner expertise could be better utilized to provide individual and community primary health-care services including effective management of chronic illness, health promotion, injury prevention and lifestyle changes. The family care clinic model can also allow people to access badly needed health services without always going through a physician first and leverage the knowledge and expertise of the collaborative care team."
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